Heroic Sword of the Black Cat
by A Dyslexic Writer
Summary: Shishou wasn't a stranger to being in a strange world, but seriously, what are the odds of it happening twice? With Fran summoned to Melromarc to be the Sword Hero and he as her Legendary Weapon, they are about to find themselves somehow managing to get into even more trouble than normal. Melromarc was not prepared for this adorable powerhouse. (Reincarnated as a Sword Crossover)
1. Chapter 1

(Shishou, where are we?)

[Sorry Fran, I don't know. But stay on your guard.]

(Nn)

The Black Catkin girl nodded as she gracefully returned to her feet and settled into a casual defensive stance, her trusted sword held at the ready. Meanwhile, the sword itself was skewering the room with his own unseen eyes, taking in everything might help them.

Shishou usually would refrain from using his Appraisal ability outside of the battlefield, but given the unusualness of the situation, he would make an exception. After all, it wasn't every day you find yourself magically transported from a battlefield, that was completely covered in slain enemies, into the middle of a dark room surrounded by a bunch of weirdos in magician cosplay. Fran and Shishou had enough bad experiences with people in magician cosplay.

These people's clothes didn't look like the Aiwass Magician's Guild's uniforms, but they were close enough. And if there was one guild of magicians bent on world domination and willing to try to force people to join, who was to say that there wasn't a second one?

But when Shishou appraised them, they seemed to be Court Magician's of a nation called 'Melromarc'.

(Never heard of it.) Fran said though her telepathic connection with Shishou when Shishou told her about the men's titles.

[Not surprising. They all seem to be about level 30, so the country is probably pretty weak.] The Court Magicians they had seen so far had all been at least level 50 and with stats worthy of a B-rank Adventurer. These people didn't match up.

If a fight were to break out, his precious little Fran would destroy them… normally.

The two of them had been fighting for nearly four hours with only a few minutes of rest in the form of a small break for tea. During those four hours they had defeated well over ten thousand monsters, including no less than twenty C-rank monsters, eight B-rank monsters, and hundreds of D-rank monsters. Not to mention fighting against what had to be the A-rank monstrosity that was Murellia, the Evil Black Tigerkin who had sold her soul to the Evil God. All of it with only minimum backup from Mare, Kuina and Kiara.

So the two of them were dead tired. Even if they still had the MP for the job, they didn't have the mental stamina left for it.

(Those three? Strong or weak?) Fran asked, drawing Shishou's attention to the group of young men that was next to them.

Shishou didn't immediately respond as he was shocked to find that the three people in question were all wearing what he could describe to be modern clothes from his original world. Things like hoodies, windbreaks and school uniform blazers. Though he had seen steampunk clothes here and there, so it wasn't all that outlandish.

Still, a quick use of Appraise on the three provided interesting results.

* * *

General Information

Name: Kitamura Motoyasu

Age: 21

Species: Human

Class: None

Status Level: 1/?

HP: 20

MP: 12

STR: 8

VIT: 6

AGI: 6

INT: 5

MGC: 3

DEX: 4

Skills:

None

Unique Skills:

Lady Killer

Battle Continuation: Lv2

Titles:

Hero of the Spear

Equipment:

Legendary Holy Spear, casual clothes

* * *

General Information

Name: Kawasumi Itsuki

Age: 17

Species: Human

Class: None

Status Level: 1/?

HP: 15

MP: 14

STR: 5

VIT: 4

AGI: 6

INT: 5

MGC: 4

DEX: 9

Skills:

None

Unique Skills:

Accuracy

Eagle Eyes: Lv:5

Titles:

Hero of the Bow

Equipment:

Legendary Holy Bow, casual clothes

* * *

General Information

Name: Iwatani Naofumi

Age: 20

Species: Human

Class: None

Status Level: 1/?

HP: 30

MP: 18

STR: 4

VIT: 8

AGI: 6

INT: 7

MGC: 6

DEX: 4

Skills:

None

Unique Skills:

Friend to Animals

Gravity Manipulation: Lv1

Titles:

Hero of the Shield

Equipment:

Legendary Holy Shield, casual clothes

* * *

[Holy shit! They all have Legendary Weapons!] Shishou shouted in shock, causing Fran's ears to prick up a little as she focused more of her attention on the three young men. Shishou tried to appraise the weapons, but couldn't. He was only told that they were Legendary Holy Weapons. His frustration lapsed when he realized that Fran was just moments away from cutting down the plausible threats. [Sorry, the three of them are actually hell of weak. They are only your average level 1s. Maybe even a bit below average by Beastkin standards. It's just there weapons that are surprising. Even with the [**Eye of Empyrea**], I can't appraise them at all.]

This was surprising. He'd been able to appraise even a God-tier weapon in the past. So why couldn't he appraise these weapons?

After being told that the trio were weaklings, Fran's attention returned to the people around her. The people who were staring at them in particular.

"Why was a Demihuman summoned?" "Was there a mistake in the ritual?" "I knew we shouldn't have tried summoning all four Heroes at once. It was an act of blasphemy." "What do we do now?"

The mages were mumbling among themselves as they throw glances at Fran, who narrowed her own eyes back, her ears flattening against her head. (Enemies to Beastkin.)

[Calm down Fran, we don't need to start a fight.] Shishou said, trying to soothe the catgirl's anger. 'Demihuman' was a derogatory term that would piss off any Beastkin, and hearing it was enough to convince Fran that these people were probably her enemies.

Luckily, before Fran could decide to start cutting, one of the mages, the one who appeared to be the leader, stepped forward and throw out his arms. "Oh, honorable Heroes! Please, save our world!" The man said, bowing his head as if in worship. His words and actions were confusing enough to cause Fran to pause in her contiplantion of how she was going to kill all but one of the mages before slowly torturing information out of the single remaining survivor. "You must have many questions, but time is short. You are the chosen Heroes, summoned here by an ancient ritual."

[...Is this seriously happening?] If Shishou had a jaw, it would have dropped.

(Shishou? Truth?) Fran asked her sword.

[The [Principle of Falsehood] Skill says he isn't lying.] Shishou replied in disbelief. Fran thought about this for a moment before lowering Shishou… around the same time the spear guy raised his spear at the mages.

"Summoned? Don't you guys have any shame at all, suddenly dragging us here without our permission?" The spear guy said, though he didn't really seem all that unhappy about the situation. He had be big fucking grin on his face.

Instantly, Shishou hated him. Not because of his attitude, but because of his Lady Killer Skill and his longer blond hair and pretty red eyes. He fit straight into the Bad Boy, or Rebel Older Brother stereo-types. Good looking bastards like him should just drop dead.

"Even if you send us home when the job is done, that's basically just using us as slave labor, you know?" The kid with the bow added his own two cents. He was younger and probably still in high school and if the spear bastard was the Bad Boy, he was an Honor Student, with wavy sandy colored hair and green eyes. But even with his looks, his personality was shit. He could also jump in a river and drowned.

"Huh?" The Shielder said, seeming shocked by the other two's behavior.

...Shishou didn't mind him. He seemed to be the every man, with ordinary black hair and an average face. Plus, who could hate a guy who has the 'Friend to Animals' Unique Skill? …Unless it affected Fran. Then Shishou would kill the bastard himself.

As for Fran's reaction… She had stopped paying attention to any of them the moment she had confirmed that there were no enemies in the immediate area. She didn't really mind the summoning or anything else. She was alive and safe, she had Shishou with her, and Urushi, their loyal and fluffy pet Darkness Wolf was still sleeping off the last fight in Fran's shadow. She could have been teleported to the other side of the planet and not cared too much.

[So Fran, what do you want to do about all this?] Shishou asked his catgirl wielder.

(Nn… Find ship back to Kranzel. Then we tell Adventurer's Guild about it.) Fran finally replied.

[You don't want to help yourself?]

(Nn. Too busy. A-rankers can handle it. Need to hunt down Murellia. Black Catkin honor depends on it.)

She had a point, they did have very important things to do, and regardless of whatever was going on here, it couldn't have been more important than the possible War that was about to happen in the Beastkin's Country. Not if they were summoning level 1s to handle it.

[You're probably right, but maybe we should hear them out, just in case.] Shishou suggested.

(...Nn.) Fran nodded her agreement, after a little bit of thought.

As Fran and Shishou had their talk, the Bow and Spear harassed the mages into a corner, until they agreed to take them to their King. Fran just quietly followed along, not really caring one way or another, even if all the others were visible excited.

Shishou, on the other hand, was worried. Most people, nobles in particular, had a problem with Fran's taciturn nature. Given her past interactions with the Beast Lord and other members of high nobility, it was safe to assume that things would likely go just as poorly here if left up to her. She didn't see the difference between a king and a random town guard.

[Now Fran, I want you to use your [Court Etiquette] Skill when we are dealing with the King.] Shishou told her.

(Do I have to?) Fran complained. While she did have the [Court Etiquette] Skill, because she stole it from a snobby Noble, she didn't usually bother to use it and considered it a hassle, only to be used when she actually liked the person she was talking with and they did her a favor. Otherwise, it just sat there, gathering dust.

[Please do. We don't want to go making an enemy of an entire Country. It would be a giant pain in the ass. Especially if we end up having to assassinate the guy.] Shishou said, trying to reason with the girl.

(...I get curry tonight. All I can eat.)

[Of course. As much as you can eat, just do your best to make a good impression.] Shishou said before realizing that both he and Fran were still covered in the blood of their untold thousands of enemies. There were also a lot of cuts in the Black Cat Series armor set. Nothing that would jeopardize Fran's modesty, but it would take a few days for the auto repair to patch it all up.

They weren't exactly in the best condition to be seeing a King in.

[You should probably use some Purification Magic. Get off the worst of the blood.] Shishou suggested.

(Nn. Smelly.) Fran nodded her agreement. (...Shishou. Purification Magic: not equipped.)

[Huh? I don't remember diseqipping it.] Shishou said in surprise.

He had hundreds of 'Set Skills' that he had gathered from absorbing the Magic Stones from monsters, which he could equipped, as long as he had an open Memory Slot. In the beginning, he could only equipped 10 at a time, but as he ranked up his [Self-Evolution] Skill, he had started being able to equip well over a hundred. He was able to keep most of the useful Skills equipped at all times, and still have memory to spare.

Shishou checked in on his own status, to see what was the matter. [EEEEIIII!] Everyone in the hall jumped as Shishou let out a telepathically projected girly scream. [Fran! It's horrible! My [Self-Evolution] has been rest!]

* * *

Name: Shishou

Wielder: Fran (Bound)

Race: Intelligent Weapon

ATK: 132

MP: 200/200

Durability: 100/100

Magical Conductivity: A

Self Evolution – Rank 1

Core Points: 0/100

Memory: 10

* * *

Gone! It was all gone! His attack power! His MP! His Durability! His Memory Slots! All of it was GONE! His base attack was back down to being comparable to an Inferior Iron Sword, more than 95% of his max MP was missing, and he could only equip a mere 10 of his Skills! ONLY 10!

How could he possibly decide?

[Vigour Mastery] and [Magic Mastery] were both non-negotiable, he simply HAD to have them, as without them he couldn't use Techniques or Magic. But what about [Sword Lord Arts] and [Sword Lord Techniques]? He couldn't go without those. [Fire Magic] and [Lightning Magic], he couldn't go without those. [Healing Magic] and [Recovery Magic] were also a must. He would also need his [Dimensional Magic] and [Time/Space Magic] equipped at all times for emergencies. What about [MP Drain], [HP Drain], [MP Thief] and [Thief Skills]? Could he go without those? [Magic Barrier], [Physical Barrier] and [Perfect Barrier] stopped Fran from ever getting one shot. [Elemental Sword] was also simply too useful. Then there was the buff based skills needed to power it all, now that he was down to only 200 MP and his attack was so low. Fran and Urushi might revolt if he didn't keep [Cooking]! [Physical Resistance] and [Mental Resistance], [Concealment] and [Psychic Isolation], [Dismantling], [Intimidation], [Espionage], [Hawk's Eyes], [Earth Magic], [Greater Earth Magic], [Wind Magic], [Purification Magic], [Dark Magic]...

The list just went on and on.

How the hell was he supposed to live with only 10 Skills?

Luckily, the [Principle of Falsehood], [Unsealable], [Skill Taker] or [Doppelganger Synthesis] weren't Slot Skills and didn't require any Memory Slots. Nor did [Telekinesis], [Telepathy], [Appraisal] or [Transformation].

God, if he had to weight any of those if this!

Oh god, he didn't want Fran to see him like this! He didn't want her to see his shame! He was weaker than he had been since the two of them had met in that forest!

[Okay, just stay calm. Stay calm. STAY CALM!] Shishou was freaking the hell out, so much so that he was shaking about in his scabbard, drawing everyone's eyes. Fran slowly removed Shishou from her back and began to hug the sword, patting him gently. The others might have been staring at her in confusion, but Fran didn't care. [Fran?]

(Momentary setback.) Fran said calmly. (Get more Magic Stones. Then Shishou will be back to his old self again.)

[Fran… you're such a good girl.] Shishou said as he pulled himself together. He was weak again, but he would still support Fran to the best of his abilities. And he would become stronger too. It might take a while… Fran might even have to use… other weapons until Shishou was back up to snuff, but he would remain strong.

Just to be sure that Fran herself was okay, Shishou did a quick check of her and Urusha's stats, but they all checked out. Only with a little surprise.

Something that would make Shishou's eyes pop out of his head… if he had any.

[Fran, you're going to love this.]

* * *

General Information

Name: Fran

Age: 12

Race: Black Catkin (Black Heavenly Tigerkin)

Class: Magic Warrior Lv41

State: Bounded

Level: 50/?

HP: 586

MP: 456

STR: 329

VIT: 260

AGI: 320

INT: 224

MGC: 269

DEX: 226

Skills:

Espionage: Lv 5

Wind Magic: Lv 4

Court Etiquette: Lv 4

Presence Detection: Lv 7

Sword Techniques: Lv 8

Sword Arts: Lv 9

Resistance to Evil Energies: Lv 1

Blink: Lv 7

Fire Magic: Lv 7

Lightning Magic: Lv 4

Cooking: Lv 2

Disarm Traps: Lv 2

Trap Detection: Lv 2

Undead Killer

Evil Killer

Insect Killer

Vigour Mastery

Goblin Killer

Mental Stability

Demon Killer

Skilled Skinner

Resolute

Sense of Direction

Magic Mastery

Night Vision

Innate Skills:

Awakening

Brilliant Lightning Rush

Magical Convergence

Special Skills:

Black Cat's Divine Protection

Titles:

Undead Killer

One Man Army

Insect Killer

Evil Killer

Lord of Dismantling

Recovery Mage

Sword Lord

Goblin Killer

One Who Slaughters

Skill Collector

Skill Maniac

Dungeon Conqueror

Big Game Eater

Demon Killer

Earth Mage

Fire Mage

Wind Mage

Lightning Mage

Lord of Cooking

Monster Annihilator

(New) Legendary Sword Hero

Equipment:

Shishou (Legendary Holy Sword), Black Cat Set, Bracelet of Herculean Strength, Sacrificial Bracelet, Magician's Necklace

* * *

Legendary Sword Hero: A title granted to the wielder of the Legendary Holy Sword.

Effect: 10x EXP for user and their party members. Remove Leveling cap.

* * *

**Last story got to be too high profile and ended up making me miserable, so I'm going to distance myself from it for a while. Maybe until they come out with a little more base material.**

**This is just a funny little thing I decided to put up in order to try to get more people to look at "Tensei Shitara Kendeshita" (Reincarnated as a Sword) which currently has no presence on this site. There isn't even an option for it.**


	2. Chapter 2

Fran was completely cleaned up as she and the others who were summoned entered the throne room.

Just as promised, she immediately triggered her [Court Etiquette] Skill, lowered her head and went down on one knee before the King with one hand on her leg while the other was moved behind her back. It was all performed beautifully, to the point were not even the most snobby of noble snobs would have been able to find fault with it.

The other three looked at her in a strange way. The Bow and Spear Heroes both remained standing and at ease, while the Shield Hero tried to imitate Fran, only to fall on his face.

Shishou felt proud of his wielder… and was glad that her head was down. While she might not have cared too much about it, Shishou certainly didn't like the looks she was getting from the surrounding nobles. Even the King looked at the tiny girl with shock and indignation before shaking himself out of it and continuing on.

"Oh? So these are the heroes of old?" The elderly man wearing a crown said, as if from a script. Shishou already had a low opinion of the man from how he looked at Fran. Plus, he didn't seem as regal and powerful as the Beast Lord had, even if the Beast Lord acted like a mafia boss mixed with a tsundere.

Shishou had to resist the urge to Appraise the man, to see how he measured up. While Appraising in a dark basement when you are surrounded by strangers is completely understandable, doing it right in front of the King of a Country was not a smart idea.

"I am the king of this country, Aultcray Melromarc the 32nd. Raise your heads, Heroes." King Aultcray said, seeming to have overlooked the fact that only Fran had her head bowed and that the Shield was currently standing back up with an embarrassed look on his face. "Now, I shall explain the current situation. This country… nay, the very world is on the path to ruin. You see great heroes, the Waves of Calamity are upon us..."

Shishou had to mentally poke at Fran every minute or so in order to stop her from nodding off as the King gave a history lesson. To be fair, she had a long day. Also, the King just wasn't as engaging of a person as the Guild Masters were. His dull voice managed to express even less emotion that Fran's did.

As for the story itself, Shishou would have called bullshit if it wasn't for the fact that [Principle of Falsehood] was telling him that everything the man said was true.

The basics of it was that they had this giant hourglass called the Hourglass of the Dragon's Era, and when it read that time was up, a hole in reality would open up in the sky and it would rain monsters down on the people of Melromarc. It would happen a few times before the Hourglass would go dormant again and the people would have a few hundred years before the cycle continued. They called this the Waves of Calamity.

So in order to combat this threat, they used a Hero Summoning ritual straight out of a bad Light Novel in order to try to call on people from another world to defend them. The story was so corny and stereotypical, that Shishou had the nagging feeling he had even played a video game with that kind of premise before, right down to the 'Waves of Calamity' and the Hourglass. Though if he had, he couldn't remember it. He had forgotten almost everything from when he was human, including his own name.

However, it slowly dawned on him and Fran that finding their way back to the Beastkin's Country might be harder than they thought. None of his story about the Waves of Calamity was familiar to Fran, and if the other three 'Heroes' were summoned from another world, than that could mean...

Fran herself was in favor of using their normal methods of interrogation on the old man in order to find out a way of returning to their own world. Shishou advised prudency… there were a lot of assholes they could grab before going after the King Asshole, and they weren't at 100% yet. Taking on a country was a bit outside of their weight class at the moment.

Before Fran's strength and cunning combined with Shishou's MP and versatility had made them a match for some A-rank adventurers, people who were considered almost inhuman, capable of impacting an entire country's military strategies singlehandedly. Now, with Shishou's stats reset, Fran was closer to an average B-rank. Still insanely strong, but not so strong as to be able to carelessly defy an entire nation and expect to get away with it.

Fran did pirk up a bit when it came to a description of the Waves of Calamity. A time when it rained unique monsters down from the sky and when a powerful Boss monster would appear. She even started to drool a little at the thought of all the EXP and Magic Stones they could get, not to mention being able to challenge a powerful monster that might be able to push her to her limit.

Shishou supposed it was to be expected. She was a bit of a battle junky.

But they didn't have the time. Murellia was trying to destroy the Beastkin Country. They needed to get back in order to stop her. Yeah, the Beast Lord could probably take care of it, but it was a matter of redemption for the Black Catkin to deal with the matter themselves, or at least for them to be involved. Murellia had been the one to sell the entire tribe to the Evil God, and brought about the wrath of the gods as a consequence.

She was evil, plan and simple, and they needed to be the ones to stop her.

Also, the Waves of Calamity didn't sound like anything that couldn't be handled by one or two A-rank Adventurers. They had those in this world, right?

"Uh huh. So, you expect us to just work for free, then? That's sure convenient for you." The boy with the bow said, crossing his arms in defiance.

"…It really is selfish, you know. Dragging us into a problem that doesn't have anything to do with us." The spearmen agreed.

So whine. The King never said anything about not getting paid. It was obvious that they would be paid. Seriously, what kind of assholes hear about a life or death situation for thousands of people and the first thing that comes to mind is money. The shield guy was a bit more tactful about the whole thing, at the very least.

As for Fran, she didn't really care one way or the other. The money would be nice, but the EXP and Magic Stones were what interested her. If they weren't being paid, they could find money in other ways. They were still sitting on about three million Gorudo's in monster corpses from their last battle, not including all the silver armor. Once they found a place to pawn it all off, they wouldn't need to worry about money for a good long while, and could try to buy enough Magic Stones to help speed up Shishou's recovery process.

"The heroes needn't worry. As you have already surmised, you will be richly compensated for your efforts." The king said. "Besides that, we could also prepare discretionary funds to support you all on your journeys. It's a small price to pay to ensure your cooperation in saving our world."

The other three made fist pumping gestures and grinned… Fran continued to be uninterested. Perhaps if he had mentioned a rare item or access to a super special dungeon, that might have got her attention, but it was too easy for someone of their strength to make all the money they could ever need adventuring.

"Now then, Heroes. Tell me your names." The King requested of them.

"Ah… The name's Kitamura Motoyasu, I'm 21 and a college student." The lance guy said, with a smile that made Shishou wish he could puke.

"My name is Kawasumi Itsuki. I'm a 17-year-old high-school student." Itsuki said from his position next to Motoyasu.

Next it was Fran's turned. She did a curtsy as she introduced herself. "Your Grace, I am Fran, a Black Heavenly Tigerkin and C-rank Adventurer of the Black Cat Tribe." She said, abandoning her normal speech pattern and laying on the [Court Etiquette] on stronger. Of course, she only said 'Your Grace' as she had already forgotten the man's name. The proper introduction would have addressed the King by his full name and title, but her display was still good.

The King's mouth twitched slightly at the display, and many people around the room exchanged nervous glances.

...This was weird. Back home, if Fran had made such a display, there would be people falling to pieces over her cuteness. ...Kind of like what the Spear Guy was currently doing.

Fuck off asshole! Stay the hell away from my daughter!

"I guess that just leaves me. The name's Iwatani Naofumi, and I'm a 20-year-old college student." The Shielder said, scratching the back of his head nervously as he glanced sidelong at Fran.

"Hmm. Motoyasu and Itsuki, eh?" The king said as he scratched his chin.

[Hey! Don't purposely ignore Fran!] Shishou raged to himself.

"…Uh, Your Majesty? What about us?" The Shield asked seeming to realize that they were purposely overlooked.

"Oh, my. My sincerest apologies… Naofumi." The king replied, again, ignoring Fran.

…

He was lucky that Fran couldn't care less.

Next, the group was instructed on how to check their own statuses, something that genuinely surprised Fran. Apparently, everyone in this world was capable of using [Status Magic], which was kind of like an [Appraisal] that only would target oneself, but also allowed for [Party Management] and a lot of other options that looked interesting. It actually looked a lot like Shishou's own user interface. Normally, only the person using the skill would be able to see the display, but for whatever reason, Shishou was able to see Fran's display from over her shoulder.

Then, one of the Court Mages from before said that they would be using [Appraisal] in order to check everyone's statuses for the Hero title.

Working quickly, Shishou equipped the [Appraisal Disguise] Skill and worked to change Fran's status page. While maybe unnecessary, it didn't hurt to be underestimated at times.

He halved her level from 50 to 25, hid all titles that might look out of place, as well as her [Espionage] and [Awakening] skills, and decreased all of her stats to about 1/3 of their usual level. All in all, she now had the visible status of your average C-rank adventurer. Should be enough to earn their attention, but not enough to frighten them.

The mage went down the line, checking the 'heroes' stats for the Hero title as the spear and bow both started to complain about being level 1. However, he stopped when he reached Fran.

"L...level 25?" The man stammered in surprise. "But, how is that possible? She still looks so young. Her level can't be that high. Ah, but the Hero of the Sword title is there."

Uh… Alright, so maybe level 25 was pretty high for a 12-year-old, but it wasn't THAT high. It was only about the same level as most of the guards they had passed in the halls. She had already said that she was a C-rank Adventurer.

As usual, Fran didn't care about the man's actions. She was too busy looking over her Status Menu with a bit of interest. She had found a 'help' menu and was trying to read over it.

(Loud.) She though in annoyance as she tried to keep reading. After Naofumi was checked out and King started to talk again, Fran got tired of it and mumbled a spell under her breath. "[Silence]."

Fran cast a level 3 wind spell around her own head, stilling the air so that noise wouldn't continue to travel through, giving her peace and quiet.

[Don't you think you should be listening a little?]

(Shishou will tell if important.)

And it really wasn't very important.

The King said something about them all going on a journey to increase their levels and strengthen their Legendary Weapons. Naofumi tried to suggest that they all work together. They were told that the Legendary Weapons actually reject each other, so they couldn't work together. And they were told that the Kingdom would gather some of their best Adventurers in order to assist the Heroes on the journey.

After that, they were just moved off to a private area to wait for dinner, being told that they would be sent off on there quest the next morning. Fran was given a separate area from the men, because she was a girl and it was inappropriate for her to sleep in the same room as them.

The room they gave her was super high class with a nice bed.

The moment the door was closed behind them, Urushi jumped up out of Fran's shadow and the two of them played on the bed while Shishou retrieved the curry he had promised her out of his [Dimensional Storage].

Hopefully no one would care too much if the bedding got destroyed.

* * *

[What do you think about the adventuring party?]

(Don't need. Shishou and Urushi: my party.) Fran replied mentally, so that she could continue to eat her curry. While she had confirmed that there were people spying on them using her [Presence Detection] Skill, she had placed a silencing spell over the room, making it impossible for anyone outside to hear them.

(Woof!) Urushi agreed, his tail thumping away.

[I thought you would say that.] Fran had been alright with the idea of partying up with Amanda or Mare, but not so much with just random people. She especially didn't want to be hassled with anyone so weak as to drag her down. And it took a lot to keep up with Fran.

(Nn? Shishou, look.) Fran paused in her eating as she found something in her [Status Menu].

It took Shishou a moment to realize what the giant list in front of him was, but when it finally registered with him, he was more surprised than Fran was.

It seemed that Fran's [Status Menu] had access to Shishou's [Dimensional Storage] and they were looking at an itemized list of everything that the two of them had carelessly thrown into that hammerspace.

Not only that, but when Fran focused on one of the corpses in the list, a few option came up; Absorb, Dismantle, Convert, Infuse, Retrieve, Destroy.

"What do?" Fran asked, having put down her food.

[Hm… let's try them out on some of the Hobgoblin corpses.] Shishou suggested. Hobgoblin material weren't worth much, but the goblins at their last battle had been wearing silver armor, so Shishou had shoved them into the storage to be pawned off later.

Plus, their corpses were kind of in the way.

"Nn." Fran nodded, searching for one of the goblin's corpses before pressing the 'Dismantle' button. Start with what you know. A progress bar appeared, and then five seconds later, a list of materials came up. "Nn!"

Fran was just as shocked as Shishou was at the results. ...They had just done an entire Dismantling job, which would usually take a few minutes or even an hour, at the press of a button.

What kind of broken bullshit is this?

On closer inspection, the resource payout was slightly less than it would have been if they had done the job themselves, but if they could dismantle a hundred monsters in a minute... it would save them so much time!

"Next: absorb." Fran said, selecting one of the Hobgoblin horns and pressing the absorb button.

The horn disappeared from the list and a new window popped up, even as Shishou transformed into a small dagger, the same grimmy yellow color as a goblin's horn.

* * *

Name: Goblin Horn Dagger

ATK: 42

MP: 1/1

Durability: 40/40

Magical Conductivity: F-

Self Evolution – Rank 1

Core Points: 0/353

Memory: 1

Equipment Bonus: none.

* * *

[Ah! No! No! Change back! Change back!] Shishou shouted as he willed himself to return to his earlier state. [Gah, that was scary.] Shishou said with a sigh of relief as he found himself able to easily return to an earlier form.

"Shishou changed." Fran said in surprise.

[Yeah. It looks like I can absorb materials in order to unlock new forms now.] Shishou said, wondering how it could be taken advantage of. [Maybe we should try it with something a bit more impressive than a goblin horn.]

"Nn." Fran nodded in agreement before looking over the list of materials they had, this time picking a Minotaur to dismantle and absorb.

* * *

Name: Minotaur Horn Long Sword

ATK: 418

MP: 5/5

Durability: 359/359

Magical Conductivity: F+

Self Evolution – Rank 1

Core Points: 0/513

Memory: 3

Equipment Bonus: +1 STR. (Unmastered) (1/64)

* * *

This time, Shishou transformed into a much more impressive, slick black long sword with a slightly curved blade.

[Now that is much better! More than 400 attack baby! Yeah!]

"Nn!" Fran agreed with a nod of excitement. Granted, 400 attack wasn't good, it was just alright. As good as High Quality Steel.

[But...] Shishou looked over the rest of his stats in that form as his excitement died down a little. [It has low MP and bad Magic Conductivity, and my Memory has gone down too. It looks like each form also gets its own Self Evolution with different requirements. While this form is alright now, its scaling seems like it will be worse than my normal form.]

Even so, that was just from a piece of a Minotaur, a D-rank monster. There was no telling what they might get if they used the materials of a more powerful monster.

"Equipment Bonus. What's that?" Fran asked.

[It seems to be giving you a plus 1 in strength, but I don't know what it means by 'unmastered'.] Shishou said as he thought about it. [I usually need to absorb the same Skills multiple times in order to level them up? Lets try absorbing more Minotaur horns.]

Fran nodded her head before absorbing another horn, and as she did so, the number next to the Equipment Bonus went from (1/64) to (2/64). With that motivation, Fran dismantled the rest of their supply of Minotaur corpses and absorbed the horns the same way. They only had four horns left over when the readout hit max and the weapon went from 'Unmastered' to 'Mastered'.

"..." Fran waited for something to happen, but… nothing did. "No change?" She mumbled, her shoulders slouching in disappointment.

[I guess not.] Shishou said, feeling equally robbed. Until he changed forms away from the Minotaur Horn Long Sword and found that Fran's +1 to STR didn't go away. [Holy shit! Fran, it gave you a permanent stat bonus!]

Normally speaking, the average person received +1 or +2 in each stat as they leveled up. Maybe +3 in their specialty stat, if they are lucky. Though between her "Big Game Hunter" title increasing her stat gains, and her high end Class, Magic Warrior, Fran usually get +2 or +3 in all her stats, with consistent +4s in her STR and MAG. This, along with the stat bonuses she received from her other titles and from Shishou's Skills, allowed her to have stats comparable to someone in there high 60s, with several decades worth of training under their belts.

While it was possible to raise ones stats outside of leveling and titles, it was hard. One would be lucky to get more than +3 or +4 points in one stat in a month of intense work. With a whole month spent running around inside a dungeon, Fran's AGL only raised a few points. So to be able to get consistent stat bonuses outside of leveling was a huge boon.

They repeated the process with the Minotaur's hide, bones, teeth, hooves, blood and meat and received a new weapon form for each one, and mastered them for stat bonuses, including another increase to STR, as well as an increase to END, DEX, SPD, MAG and an increase to… cooking.

"OH!" "WOOF!" Fran and Urushi were really excited by that one.

But it didn't end there. That had just been from the Minotaurs. They also had quite a few High Orcs laying around, so they dismantled them as well.

Again, several new weapon forms, and again, several new Equipment Bonuses, including stat ups, including one for cooking from the Orc Meat. But unlike before, the High Orc blood gave them an increase to HP Regeneration.

They scoured through their storage for other monsters they had repeats of. Sadly, while they had thousands of corpses to choose from, only a few were in a large enough number for them to get more stat boosts out of. They had lots of goblins, but they didn't seem to be worth anything. Also, none of the weapons that were unlocked had more than 50 MP or a Mana Conversion rate of more than E. They also required more Core Points in order to rank up. Meaning that while they had more base attack, they would eventually become worse than his base form after just a few rank ups.

They all also had there own Memory Slots and Shishou found that he could have a different loud out for each weapon and switch between them to quickly change his set skills, which seemed like a good temporary solution to their Memory problems.

In the end, they gained Fran a total of 24 individual stat increases, along with an increase to HP Regeneration and an increase to [Fire Resistance], which they got from some Red Demon Wolves.

But the Absorb ability could be used on more than just monster parts. They absorbed part of the poisonous swamp they had sitting in their storage, gaining a new Skill, [Poison Stab]. And the Recovery Water they made for the cooking competition gave them another increase to MAG. They also gained 'recipes' from absorbing various foods, herbs and the like. Absorbing potions gave them an ability that increased the effectiveness of potions, as well as giving them an area of effect. Which was stupid powerful.

[Hahaha! I might have had my Rank reset, but I'm going to be even better than ever! Just you wait Fran!] Shishou bousted.

"Nn! Shishou: superduper sword!" "Woof!" Fran and Urushi agreed. But there excitement stopped as someone approached the door from the outside.

Even before they knocked, Urushi had dived back into Fran's shadow and Fran had dismissed her silencing spell over the room.

It was a servant, set to tell Fran that the court feast was ready.

(Time for local cuisine.) Fran said, looking forward to eating the food of another world.

(Erm...) Urushi whimpered.

(Will save Urushi some.)

(Woof!)


	3. Chapter 3

Dinner came and went, with Fran eating enough to feed over a dozen people and stealthily pocketing away just as much as she ate for Urushi. The others in the hall had looked at her with awe and perhaps a little horror as she did so, but Fran didn't care.

She didn't even respond to the other Heroes attempts to talk to her as she ate.

That said, the quality of the food was only 'good', according to Fran. In other words, it was only average quality at the very best. After years of being a slave, Fran had developed a unique sense for food, meaning that, so long as the food wasn't completely inedible, Fran still won't complain about it.

Pretty weak sauce considering it was the royal courts cooking for a group of 'Heroes'. They didn't even use any magic infused meat. Just normal beef and pork. What kind of cheapskates run this place?

Well, given that they are apparently going to be giving each hero 600 silver to start their journey with, the answer to that is probably super cheapskates.

After running some numbers on pricing, 600 silver was the equivalent of around 60,000 Gorudos. Meaning the average cost of an E-rank quest commissions, or the value of three properly dismantled High Orc. The meat alone from a Golden Boar was worth around that much. Seriously, they are paying legendary heroes with this kind of chump change? No one back home would have had the balls to attempt to pay an A-rank Adventurer so little.

A group of merchants Fran once saved from a group of lesser wyverns because they happened to be in her way had been in tears because they could ONLY give her 50,000 and were afraid that she would annihilate them for the insult.

You couldn't even buy a decent armor set for this little. A set of high quality armor cost at least 1,000,000. A single Top-tier potion cost 100,000. Hell, the lowest grade potions cost 2,000. To Fran and Shishou, it wasn't even enough money to be worth waiting around for.

So they decided they would just leave in the morning, before anyone even had a chance to join their party, and they head out on their own.

With that, Fran and Urushi jumped into bed and were fast asleep within moments, the two fluffies cuddling up close together. It was adorable.

Shishou had long since gotten used to being the one left awake, standing guard over the two as they slept. As a sword, he didn't sleep, so it was only nature.

Casting an Earth Magic spell over the brickwork of the castle in order to receive warning if anyone came close, Shishou went to his favorite pastime, looking over his Skills.

While being able to shift between forms in order to quickly change his Skill loud out was helpful, it wasn't a perfect system, mostly because of the fact that some Skills were a must have regardless. If he had to take up multiple slots in each form with them, then the number of changing skills was cut down. So, in order to get around this, Shishou decided to spend his few remaining Evolution Points.

Before being summoned to this new world, during the battle against the Valkyrie and the Dullahan, Shishou had ranked up and gained 75 new Evolution Points, most of which had yet to be spent.

By using up 10 points, he could change any maxed out Slottable Skill into a Specialized Skill, making it forever equipped to him, as well as increasing their potency. The disadvantage of this was that for some Specialized Skills became unusual for Fran. While Skill Taker SP had saved their lives, unlocking it had meant that Fran wouldn't be able to use Skill Taker herself. So Shishou had to be careful about which Skills he upgraded.

Since Fran already had Magic Mastery and Vigour Mastery, Shishou had no problem upgrading those into Magic Mastery SP and Vigour Mastery SP. He had also experimented with Sword Arts SP in the past, so he knew that Sword Lord Arts SP would still let Fran make use of the Sword Lord Arts.

* * *

Magic Mastery SP: Grants +8 MP, +3 INT, and +5 MAG to wielder.

Vigour Mastery SP: Grants +10 HP, +4 STR, +4 END, +4 SPD, and +4 DEX to wielder.

Sword Lord Arts SP: Grants Sword Lord Arts Skill to wielder. Grants +6 to all stats while the wielder is holding a sword.

* * *

As expected, now Shishou couldn't share either Magic or Vigour Mastery with Fran. It was a good thing she had those Skills herself, and upgrading them did give her sizable stat bonuses.

That was 30 Evolution points down already. ...Shishou would hold back on spending any more for now, until he knew what would be the most useful.

Besides that, he had decided on the 10 Skills he would be using for his base form.

Presence Concealment Lv6, Thought Isolation LvMax, Automatic MP Recovery, Earth Magic LvMax, Time/Space Magic LvMax, Dimensional Magic Lv4, Recovery Magic LvMax, Vibration Fang, Status Ailment Immunity Lv7, Perfect Barrier Lv1.

It wasn't even a start on all the things that he wanted to have active at all times, but it was the best he could do. The best balance of offense, defense, support and utility he could manage with just 10 Skills. He was nervous about leaving out Appraisal Disguise and having to make due with just straight up Appraisal Block, but with any luck, they wouldn't encounter any one with a Unique Appraisal Skill capable of seeing through normal Appraisal Block.

[Hn?] Shishou started as he sensed his Earth Magic barrier being trodden on. There were a dozen individuals coming their way. [Fran, Urushi.]

(Nn.) (Woof!) The two were already awake, having noticed with their own sensory Skills going off. Before the key entered the door, Fran already had Shishou in had and was ready with his spell. "Silence."

Even as the door was thrown open, it made no sound at all, though if this puzzled the armed men outside of Fran's room, it would have been hard to tell, as each of them was wearing a full body black ninja outfit, complete with helmet and face mask.

Shishou used Time/Space Magic to speed up Fran and Urushi's perceptions, making it appear to them like the entire world had suddenly slowed down. They rushed out of the room ready to kickass.

The man in front was cut down before he even had time to raise his dagger, Shishou's [Vibration Fang] sharpened body was easily capable of slicing straight through their cloth armor, even with his lack luster stats. Even as the man's upper-body spun through the air, Fran was moving in on her next targets, attacking around their attempts to block with ease. A quick check from Appraisal reveal the assassins to have roughly C rank stats.

Poor fools. Perhaps if Fran's stats were really what they had shown before, they would have stood a chance.

Urushi, dove into the shadows, reemerging from the other side of the assailants and immediately taking off a leg with powerful sweep of his armored claws, before casting some of his [Darkness Magic] to skewer another two with magical spears.

Within seconds, six enemies lay dead and the six remaining had found themselves surrounded.

With surprising coordination for a group who couldn't make a sound, five of the remaining ninja's formed a wall while the last one rushed to a window, jumping out through it.

[Urushi, we got a runner!] Shishou shouted to the Darkness Wolf. The Wolf Familiar sunk back into the shadows, leaving to pursue the escaped enemy, as Fran took care of the rest, firing off a powerful stunning spell into one of them before cutting off the rest of their heads.

Moments later, Urushi returned with the runner's dead body.

(Good boy.) Fran said, patting Urushi's head. The monster's tail thumped happily at the praise.

[Let's clean this up before we start our interrogation.] Shishou said as he pulled the usual rope from their storage.

After storing away the bodies to be disposed of later, Shishou changed to his [Poison Blade] form, which he had equipped with his [Purification Magic], for irony's sake, and began to erase all the blood. Meanwhile, Fran tied up the remaining ninja and dragged them back into the room, then, with a bit of manipulation, she changed it so that the Silence spell would only stop noise from exiting the room, letting them speak in private.

"Talk. You sent you." Fran demanded from the man as soon as the paralysis wore off. The man didn't say anything, just stared at Fran from behind his mask.

Well, it wasn't like they weren't used to this.

Fran drove the tip of Shishou's blade into the man's leg and gave it a small twist. The ninja let out a scream of pain as Fran withdraw Shishou, leaving an open wound.

After a few moments, Fran closed the wound back up. "Middle Heal." The man gasped and shook himself a little. "Will do it again if don't talk."

"What kind of monster are you?" Came the nondescript voice.

"Not the answer to my question." Fran said as the blade went back in, and the process repeated. Funnily enough, this was the first assassin that didn't immediately try to poison themselves upon being captured.

"I was sent by the Queen." The man finally said after two more repetitions.

[He's full of shit.] Shishou informed Fran as [Principle of Falsehood] reacted to his lies.

The man screamed as Fran drove the blade in again. "I can tell when you lie. Tell the truth, who sent you."

"Siltvelt sent me! Ah!"

"Don't lie. Also, what is Siltvelt?"

"You don't even know!? Ah!"

"Answer question."

"I will never give in to you, False Hero...!"

[Fran stop!] Shishou shouted in the girl's mind, but it was too late.

(Why?) Fran asked, puzzled as to why Shishou wanted her to stop.

[...We're out of MP.] The wound was open and the person was bleeding out fast. After ten seconds, they had collapsed and were starting to black out from blood loss.

(...Oops.) Fran was used to having a MP pool of several thousand to work with, so she burned through all there reserves without even noticing.

[...Should we use a potion?]

(...Nn. Too expensive.) Fran just shrugged. (Even if he talks, what do we do?)

[Good question. It isn't like there is anyone we could report this too anyways. Everyone in this castle is an asshole. Hell, the King Asshole himself is probably even involved with this. Besides, we were going to leave anyways.] Shishou mumbled. With a nod of her head, Fran put the bastard out of his misery and shoved the corpse into their storage to be disposed of later… whenever they remembered to.

Honestly, between all the assassins, pirates, and just generally criminal assholes, they were starting to have a hefty number of human corpses lying around.

After that, they left through the broken window and out into the city.

It didn't even occur to Shishou until later that they had forgotten to clear up all the blood.

Those poor castle maids.

* * *

[You have any idea where this city's Adventurers' Guild might be?] Shishou asked, even though he knew the answer.

The two of them had decided to head over to the Guild, since Adventurers' Guilds never really closed in big cities. They would be able to register with this world's guild. They would also be able to trade raw materials for money they could use, and could get a recommendation for an inn.

The only problem was, the capital of Melromarc was a pretty big place, and they had no idea where the Guild might be located.

"Will ask for directions." Fran said, pointing to a dark alley where three shady looking people with swords were hanging out.

[...Well, our MP is back at full again.] Shishou said as Fran headed over to them.

"Hey." Fran said after entering the alley way, getting there attention. "Looking for Adventurer's Guild."

The three guys looked at her before looking at each other and breaking into laughter. "How lucky can you get? A fresh little slave girl just walking right up to you in a dark alley. The day hasn't even started yet, and it is already shaping up for us." One of the bastards said. The three started to surround Fran, who was unconcerned.

"Know slave traders?" Fran asked.

"Us? No, not at all." The man laughed. Shishou didn't even need [Principle of Falsehood] to know that was a lie.

"...Silence." Fran cast the wind spell even as Shishou used earth magic to seal the alley away from the outside world. The thugs were shocked by the sudden appearance of walls. Not that they had much time to be shocked by that before Fran paralyzed them all with lightning magic. "Tell me where the slave trader is."

* * *

A dozen level 35 Shadows. All of them were dead.

He didn't even know what to make of it. He hadn't believed it when the magic contracts reported the men to be gone.

The False Sword Hero was supposed to have been only level 25 herself. So how was it that it was capable of handling an ambush of twelve Shadows by itself? Perhaps even its level was a deception. Or maybe it had some kind of demonic power at her disposal. Everything was wrong about that one: heretical.

Not only was it a Demihuman, but a 'black' tiger. As if the normal white Hakukos weren't evil enough. The sword that it carried did not resemble the Legendary Holy Sword at all, as it bore the visage of a savage beast upon its face rather than a blue crystal. The stories that came to him, of the unusually powerful demihuman child without emotions, convinced the Pope that this child was a demon pretending to be their promised hero.

They must destroy it, before its existence could become known.

In order to protect the innocence of the faithful, that child must die.

* * *

**Story starts a little after the end of what is currently translated into English. Around chapter 320 of the WN.**


	4. Chapter 4

"No, please! Have mercy!" The extremely fat man dressed like an evil circus ringmaster begged as he tried to make distance between himself and Fran as the little girl walked past the corpses of his dead workers. The bodies disappeared into thin air as she went, pulled into the Dimensional Storage. "This is all a misunderstanding! We can work this out, yes!?"

It didn't matter how loudly he screamed. The entire massive tent of the local 'Tamed Monster' business that acted as the front for the illegal slave trade was surrounded by a silencing spell, and all the guards within it had been desposed of already.

* * *

Name: Beloukas

Race: Slaver

Class: Black Market Slave Trader

Skills: Kidnapping Lv5, Coercion LvMax, Bribery Lv6

Title: Slave Trader, Masochist

* * *

[This guy is so guilty it isn't even funny. Go ahead.]

"Nn." Fran nodded before swinging Shishou straight thing the man's… wait… he didn't even have a neck.

With the messy deed done, Fran turned her attention to the rows of cages and the eyes that were staring at her. Just over thirty Beastkin were currently stuffed into those cages, each of them wearing nothing but rags. They were dirty and pathetic looking. Most of them were thin and some coughed uncontrollably.

Looking at them made Shishou wish that they could kill the Slave Trader a second time.

The collars that Fran and Shishou normally associated with slavery were absint, but in there place was a inked magic seal on each of there chests.

Fran walked over towards one of the steel cages, not bothering to search for the keys, as Shishou changed to his new 'Valkyrian Long Sword' form, which they gained from absorbing the blood of the first Valkyrie they fought during the stampede just before their summoning.

With a base attack of over 700, 800 MP, a C+ Magic Convergence, and 15 Memory, it was easily one of their strongest current forms, though its Core Point requirement for upgrade was steep. The elegant golden blade cut through the steel bars with ease. Even if the Valkyrie had been spawned from a Dungeon ruled by a worshipper of the Evil God, it was still a being of Light and its blade held that holy look to it.

The form also had a unique ability, Warrior Maiden, which empowered all under Fran's leadership… not that Fran was likely to ever be commanding an army. It was just out of character for her.

There was a girl inside of the cage, a small bunny eared girl, no older than Fran herself, with a twisted arm. She hardly reacted as the bars clattered to the ground, she just continued to stare at Fran with wide eyes. Fran reached out towards her. Shishou first casting a Greater Heal spell, amplified by his Sorcery trait, causing the deformed arm to mend into a normal condition.

Greater Heal was the level 1 spell of the [Healing Magic] Skill, the upgrade of [Recovery Magic]. While it was only the first spell given, they had never exactly needed anything stronger than that. Greater Heal could heal almost any injury, including reattaching severed limbs. So long as the organs were completely destroyed, there wasn't much that Shishou couldn't heal with a Sorcery enhanced Greater Heal.

While the child was marveling at the restored arm, Fran used Contract Magic in order to remove the Slave Seal.

The slaves gasped in wonder as they saw the child healed and the seal dissolve.

Fran and Shishou broken the cages one by one, healing and unsealing the slaves as they went, as well as curing any disease they came across, until they came across a sight that made them actually pause. Inside it was one a one armed, one legged Wolf Beastkin with a missing eye and bandages wrapped around his stomach. His jaw was sagging as his remaining eye unfocused and his breathing was raspy. Even his remaining limbs seemed to be broken. While Fran stood in front of him, he didn't seem to see her.

* * *

General Information

Name: Yuri

Age: 41

Race: Werewolf (Beastman)

Class: Gladiator

State: Enslaved, Crippled, Brain Damage

Level: 75/100

HP: 32/662

MP: 256

STR: 247

VIT: 312

AGI: 210

INT: 92

MGC: 101

DEX: 156

Skills:

One-hand Ax Arts: Lv8

Shield Arts: Lv9

Hunger Resistance: Lv5

Blink: Lv2

Imperturbability

Last Stand

Titles:

One Who Holds On

Equipment:

Rags

* * *

Holy Hell! The guy was level 75! He was a higher level than even Amanda, even if his stats and Skills were surprisingly low! More importantly, what the hell happened to him!?

They used Greater Heal on him, knitting his broken bones back together and causing his jaw to return to normal. His eye became more focused as the worst of the pain must have been relieved, but even Greater Heal had its limits. It couldn't regrow limbs and organs or cure brain damage.

"An… Angel?" The Werewolf mumbled, as he stared at Fran with an almost tranquil expression. "I see. Guess my time has come then… I'm coming home ma."

"Not dying." Fran told the man.

"Wha? I'm not?" This caught the Beastkin's attention and he started to move around. "But then, why is my pain almost gone? And the slave seal. And I think think straighter."

"I healed you and released seal."

"Oh… You probably shouldn't have bothered." The man said, his ears wilting. "My body is busted up. No amount of healing magic is going to put me back together again."

"...Nn." Fran looked into their storage space and brought out one of their top quality potions. "Drink this."

"I told you. I can't be…" The Werewolf tried to talk sense into Fran, but the girl ignored him. She grabbed his mouth, forced his jaw open and then shoved the bottle into his mouth. The surprised man's limbs batted around, though Shishou used his telekinesis in order to push them away from reaching Fran.

[Potion Area of Effect] and [Potion Effectiveness Up] triggered and a bright golden glow pulsated from the man's body, causing everyone in the tent to gasp.

Shishou had to admit, those top tier potions were worth every penny. Not that they bought them. They 'found' them in an Alchemist Guild's chest that just so happened to be in a pirate's HQ. Sure they didn't return it, but you know how it is.

Besides, it turned out to be the bad guy's stuff anyways. So it was good that they didn't return it.

Still, now that they only had one such potion left, perhaps Shishou should consider leveling up Healing Magic some to deal with cases like this one. He had to admit, he was curious whether or not he could bring back the dead… I mean as actual people, not just zombies. He could already make zombies.

Before the glow even had a chance to die down, the lost limbs and eye of the Werewolf had grown in.

"Incredible." "Was that… the legendary Medicine of Miracles, Yggdrasil?" "No, not even the legendary potion has that kind of effect." "I felt warm just standing in its presence."

The Werewolf stared at his own two hands for a long time before looking at Fran again. "Is… is this real?"

"Nn." Fran nodded.

The man started to laugh before prostrating himself before the Black Catkin girl. "Thank you! Thank you Goddess-sama!"

One after another, all the other slaves bowed down before their lord and savior…

[This is getting weird.] Shishou said awkwardly. [I think they honestly believe you are a goddess.]

(Nn.)

[Don't you think you should correct them?]

(...Difficult.) Fran didn't want to go through all the effort of explaining, so she just left things be.

"Dimensional Gate." Fran said, opening up a gateway to a beacon they had placed outside of the city limits before moving to rescue the slaves. It caused another round of amazement as the god child casually ripped through reality.

Honestly, it was like they had never even heard of Time/Space Magic.

Fran escorted the Slaves and whatever tamed monsters she like the looks of out through the Dimensional Gate… after looting the entire tent for everything that wasn't bolted down… and ripping out a few things that were bolted down because they seemed nice too.

What? There's nothing morally questionable about robbing dead slavers… or live slavers for that matter.

The monster eggs, being technically alive, couldn't be put into their Dimensional Storage, and carrying around over a thousand unhatched monster eggs would have been a pain, so they just left them. Let whoever finds them have them.

* * *

"Please Goddess-sama, allow me to accompany you!"

"No." Fran shot the man down, not even thinking about it.

[Wow, that was a little harsh.] Shishou said, even though he agreed with her decision. While the guy wasn't weak, he wasn't a match for Fran's abilities, and his high level meant that his future progress would be slower. A guy like him trying to run after Fran will only get himself killed.

Plus, his idol worship could cause problems.

"...When my Tribe was lost in the war, we were taken by the Slave Hunter and sold into slavery. I along with many of my brothers and sister ended up in the Zeltbull Colosseums, fighting in the gladiator pits. Every day we were forced to fight or die, not only just monster, but other slaves. And so I lived for twenty years, killing so that I could continue to live. I… I killed my own kin so that I might survive." Yuri delivered his confession while looking up at Fran from his knees, sorrow in his eyes. "Please, Goddess-sama. Please give me this redemption."

While most wouldn't have been able to notice any chance in Fran's expression, Shishou could feel her pulse quicken. [Fran? You alright?]

"...Nn." Fran finally responded, raising one of her hands as she opened up their Dimensional Storage. Out of the magical hole came a set of silver armor, along with a shield and ax, items they had taken from the monster army that served under the Valkyrie. It was one of the sets that had its own magic enchantments in order to adjust its size to fit the wearer.

"Goddess-sama?"

"If you want redemption, protect the others." Fran told the man, pointing towards the wagons and the other slaves who had been watching them.

"Yes Goddess-sama!" Yuri shouted, slamming his head once again against the ground.

"Nn." And with that, Fran turned and used Long Jump to teleport away before anyone else could think to stop her.

A 'Werewolf' decked out from head to toe in full silver armor. How funny.

* * *

Name: Beastmaster's Sword

ATK: 222

MP: 15/15

Durability: 329/329

Magical Conductivity: E

Self Evolution – Rank 1

Core Points: 0/626

Memory: 2

Equipment Bonus: Familiar Growth Correction (Small) (Mastered)

* * *

Name: Beastmaster's Sword II

ATK: 252

MP: 25/25

Durability: 379/379

Magical Conductivity: E+

Self Evolution – Rank 1

Core Points: 0/813

Memory: 3

Equipment Bonus: Familiar Stats Correction (Small) (Unmastered) (1/32)

* * *

Name: Beastmaster's Sword III

ATK: 292

MP: 35/35

Durability: 431/431

Magical Conductivity: E+

Self Evolution – Rank 1

Core Points: 0/1134

Memory: 5

Equipment Bonus: Familiar Growth Correction (Medium) (Unmastered) (1/54)

* * *

Absorbing some of the ink from the Slaver's tent gave them something very interesting. The Beastmaster's Sword was a form that granted increased leveling effectiveness for the wielder's familiars. Which was completely insane.

Growth correction bonuses were usually things associated with Heroes' Titles or Divine Blessing. Just a small one was already huge.

Then, add Beastmaster's Sword II and III, which they unlocked when Urushi decided to donate some of his fur, and you have something equal to the gifts given by the Blessing of the Warrior God, a Legendary Blessing in their previous world.

Only problem was, they would have to figure out how to Master them, as feeding it more fur didn't have any more effect. Perhaps they would need to have more familiars, or find another way of increasing the counter.

Between that discovery and the sixty gold coins they pocketed, it had been a very productive night. They now had ten times as much money as the King was going to have given them.

The Slaver must have been running a very successful business, as he had nearly a thousand gold just sitting around in his vault. Though in the end, Fran and Shishou only took a small part of what was there, giving the rest to the freed slaves, along with the food that was stock piled, and tamed monsters and wagons. They only kept interesting things that they could absorb in order to unlock new forms.

[So, what should we do now? We've got some money, so do you want to track down the Merchants' Guild so we can buy some Magic Stones? Or should we still find the Adventurers' Guild first to make some more trades?] Shishou asked as the sun started to peek out over the horizon.

For a moment, Fran didn't say anything, but when she responded, it was about something else entirely. (Wolf Beastkin, strange.)

[Huh? You mean Yuri? What was strange about him?]

(High level Beastkin, but not evolved.)

[He wasn't?] It took a moment for Shishou to think back, but he realized that Fran was right, Yuri hadn't had the Awakening skill. [So, the people in this world are different than the Beastkin we know?]

(No… Maybe. Don't know.) Fran said, frowning. (Beastkin, but not Beastkin. Strange.)

When it came to matters of Beastkin, instinct was a key player. A Beastkin can identify another of their Tribe from far off, and could sense things about other Tribes as well, though not as clearly. They could also tell when they are dealing with an Evolved individual purely based on gut instinct, without the need for Appraisal. The awe that Fran had inspired in the Slaves probably had as much to do with her being an Evolved Beastkin as it had to do with her saving them.

Fran's instincts were telling her that those people were indeed Beastkin, but at the same time, they weren't quite Beastkin.

[So, the Beastkin in this world can reach higher levels even without Evolving?] Shishou guessed. Normally, a Beastkin's level would cap out at 45 until they Evolved, but that Werewolf had been at level 75. Such a thing would have been nice for the Black Catkin, before they knew the secret to their Evolution. Being able to continue to level beyond 45 would have saved them a lot of pain.

Though that wasn't to say that Evolution only granted an increased level cap. The Awakening Skill could be the difference between a B-rank Adventurer and an A-rank one. Fran's Awakened form granted +300 to both her Agility and Magic stats for the direction of the Awakening, on top of some extremely powerful special attacks, which could even rival the highest level of Magic. Her transformation also gave her near perfect resistance to lightning.

Evolution was a huge deal, so for the Werewolf to not have it… it was kind of crippling.

(Shishou. The colosseums. They are our enemies.) Fran said with certainty. (The things they do. Can't forgive.)

[...Yeah. We'll take care of them. But first, we should probably work ourselves back up. If they have high level people at their call, then we will have to be even stronger if we want to get past them. Let's put that 10x EXP to good use!]

(Nn!)

* * *

**Should point out that Raphtalia wouldn't have been in the Slave Trader's care yet. I'm going with the Manga's explanation of what happened to them, even if I find it a little stupid that a noble keeps a bunch of slaves chained up in his basement for absolutely no reason. She and her childhood friends are still at the noble's castle. But with the Noble having Slave Hunters gathering up every displaced Demihuman they find, it won't be long until they stumble across Fran. Then they all die.**


	5. Chapter 5

"This… isn't really happening, right?" Rachael mumbled to herself as she pinched her own cheek. But no matter how hard the Adventurer Guild Receptionist pinched, the scene in front of her still didn't change. There was still a 12-year-old, Demihuman girl helping one of their B-rank Adventurers out of the wall, after she herself put him in it.

She wasn't used to stuff like this. She ran the morning shifts, which were always quiet, as the new quests weren't posted until the afternoon. Only the bottomfeeders and people who were trying to avoid attention ever showed up in the morning. Mostly Demihumans and individuals who were down on their luck. People who kept their heads down and wouldn't make any trouble.

Even with the monsters from the first Wave still running around, things were still relatively uneventful for the morning shift.

That is, until she showed up.

The moment she walked through the door, every Demihuman adventurer in the building had stopped what they were doing to stare at her in complete bewilderment. At first she thought they were confused as to why a child would be at the Adventurer's Guild in the first place, but when she came to stand in line for the reception desk, each of the Demihuman's stepped out of line to let her proceed, practically bowing and scraping as they did so. When any of their human teammates tried to question them, they just grabbed them and dragged them out of the line.

What the hell kind of behavior was that?

"Register."

The girl had asked to join the Adventurer's Guild. A child trying to join wasn't that uncommon an event. Being an Adventurer was one of the few ways that one could be granted access to hunting grounds, where level grinding can be done, and once they were a decent level, Adventuring was one of the best paying jobs around.

That said, the Adventurer's Guild didn't make a habit of accepting child. Though rather than just turning them away, they had a 'test', one that no child could pass. Hell, most adults wouldn't have been able to pass it. They would be put up against a B-rank Adventurer, who also acted as a sort of instructor for young Adventurers, and told to show their stuff.

Normally, they would be crushed in an instant and see that Adventuring was serious work. Then they would be offered classes to help them learn the ropes so that when they became adults, they would be better prepared.

Rachael felt kind of guilty about it. The child was so cute, but she needed to learn that Adventuring was serious stuff, and not a child's game. Rachael had seen people who didn't take things seriously die before, and she knew the signs. A weapon that was too large for their body, armor that left the arms, legs and stomach revealed because it looked cute. Going out in such things was just asking for trouble. This 'test' would be good for her.

Only this time, when Marcus when up against the adorable little girl, he was thrown through the wall in just a single punch. The kid had decked a level 43 man who was more than twice her size with complete ease. Not just knocking him down, but breaking his bones. Then, after the man surrendered, she healed his broken jaw, as if it was no big deal.

That was some seriously high class magic.

"Wow, did you see that!?" "Amazing." "I told you! I told you she was an Elder!" "I've never seen a real Elder before." "What's an Elder doing in Melromarc?" "I want to grow up to be just like her!" "Dude, you're twenty years older than she is." "SHUT UP AND LET ME DREAM, DAMMIT!" "Can anyone tell what tribe she's from?"

The test was supposed to have been private, but that hadn't stopped every Demihuman in the Guild Hall from following them in order to give the girl their support. However, when Rachael heard what they had said, things started to fall into place.

An Elder!? A real Elder!?

There was a rare skill that sometimes appeared among extremely high level Demihumans called 'Beastification', a skill that caused them to transform and awakened even greater power, providing an absolutely massive spike to the users stats.

As the ability is so rare, a Demihuman Tribe was considered blessed with abundant talent if their subrace had one such individual appearing every generation. There were probably no more than three dozen Demihumans with the Beastification Skill in the entire world. If one did appear, they were treated with the utmost respect by the entire Demihuman community, regardless of their previous stations or family backgrounds, and it was said that any Demihuman would be able to tell that they were special just by looking at them. They were almost considered to be like royalty in Siltvelt.

But how was this possible? If she had grown to such a level that she could become an Elder, there was no way she could still look so young. There had been rumors of a young Priestess in the East unlocking Beastification at the age of 15, but at the time, she already looked like a full grown adult because of the way Demihuman's age rapidly as they level.

Most Demihumans would appear to be a full grown adult by level 20.

"Pass?" The child asked Rachael, looking up at her with a doll-like expression.

"Ah… yes." Rachael said, nodding slowly. "Please follow me back to the front desk… and we can get the paperwork filled out for you."

"Nn."

* * *

Perhaps Shishou should have invested the memory slot needed for [Evolution Concealment], in order to avoid attracting too much attention. It hadn't seemed that important before, since they hadn't come across that many other Beastkin. Shishou wondered why there were so many of them at the Adventurer's Guild that morning. Adventurers had always tended to be more of a night crowd, with them spending their mornings in the field.

Fran had been an early riser, but that was only because Nell had given her preferential treatment, and let her have any good quests before they ever reached the boards.

Now they were surrounded by people talking about how Fran was an 'Elder', which seems to be what these people call Evolved Beastkin.

[You decking their examiner probably didn't help matters.]

(Left himself open.) Fran responded, unapologetically.

"Alright, I just need to fill out this form. It's just general information for our records. Don't worry, we don't disclose it to anyone." The receptionist said, handing Fran a document and a clipboard.

"Nn." Fran said taking the clipboard from the woman. But when she looked down at the page, she paused. (...Shishou. Problem.)

[Hm, what's the matter?]

(Can't read it.)

...Huh? Fran wasn't illiterate. She knew how to read and write.

Only, when Shishou looked over Fran's shoulder at the document, he found that he couldn't read it either. [I guess we can't read the written language of this world.]

(Troublesome.)

"Is something the matter?" The receptionist asked.

"Can't read it. Language: different." Fran said, handing the clipboard back.

"Oh? I see. You're from another country, aren't you?"

"Nn."

"Well, that's alright. I'll just ask you the questions, and you can tell me what you want me to write. Remember, everything is optional and we won't disclose any of your information. This is all just to give us a better idea of what quests you will be most suitable for." The receptionist said, getting ready to write. "Let's start out with your name and age."

"Fran. Age: 12."

"So you really are as young as you look. And your level?"

"Secret."

"...Alright, you don't actually have to tell us that. How about where were you born?"

"Don't know."

"...Okay. Any relatives you want to be kept informed of your wellbeing?"

"No living relatives."

"..."

The process continued, with the poor woman asking questions that either didn't have an answer, or didn't have an answer that could be easily explained. Shishou felt sorry for her.

"Alright, I guess that is everything." The receptionist said, looking down at the rather sparse page. "Now, would you like to be registered under your real name, or do you have an alias you would prefer."

"Allowed alias?" Fran asked the woman with a slight tilt of the head.

"Plenty of people want to eventually retire from being an Adventurer, so it helps if people can't use your real name to track you down." The woman explained.

"...Been called Black Lightning Princess. Does that work?" Fran asked.

"It's a little grander than what most people use, but yes, it works. Just give me a second to get everything finalized by the Guild Master and I'll be right back with you." The woman went off into the 'employees only' area and came back a few moments later with a small brown badge. "Here is your Adventurer's Guild membership badge. Right now, you are only at the G-rank, but as you do more missions for the Guild your rank will go up."

She seemed a little nervous, probably thinking that Fran would make a stink about starting from square one, but Fran honestly didn't care all that much about rank. Not unless it won respect for the Black Catkin, but that didn't apply in other worlds.

"Exchange monster materials?" Fran asked after putting the badge away inside of their dimensional storage, gaining even more bewildered looks as the item disappeared into thin air.

"Ah… yes. We deal in trading monster materials." The receptionist said.

"Nn." Fran nodded her head before opening up their storage again and pulling out all of the materials that they didn't need. The receptionist gave a small scream of panic as she was pushed backwards by the wave of monster pelts, bones and teeth that escaped the hole in space. "Want to exchange these."

"...This might take a while."

* * *

In the end, because the people in charge of identifying the quality of materials were unsure of what some of the monsters even were, they ended up not getting a very good price for them. It sucked, but it couldn't be helped, since they were in a different world.

If no one had ever seen them before, no one would know how to put them to best use.

Still, all their unwanted materials ended up fetching them another 30 gold. Not as much as they were worth, but not all that bad.

"Is there anything else you need help with?" The receptionist asked them after handing over the bag of coins, which was immediately stored within their Dimensional Storage.

[We need to ask where we can get some stones so that we can put this money to good use.] While Shishou hadn't liked using Fran's hard earned money to strengthen himself in the past, right now he was in no condition to hold back. He wouldn't feel comfortable again until he had at least 2000 MP to work with.

(Nn.) Fran agreed. "Magic Beast Stones: where can buy?"

"Magic Beast Stone? ...I'm afraid I've never heard of them. But if they are a kind of magic item, I can direct you towards a magic shop."

[...What?]

"...Magic Beast Stone. Core of monster." Fran said uneasily. How the hell could someone from the Adventurer's Guild not know about Magic Beast Stones?

"I don't understand what you mean by that."

[No. No, please no!] Did the monsters of this world not have Magic Stones? If that was the case, how the hell was Shishou supposed to gain Core Points and evolve himself? This was bad. This was very bad!

(Shishou will think of something.) Fran said, trying to calm Shishou down. (Find other ways to get stronger and get home. Then will be able to get Magic Stones again.)

[...R...Right. This is all just temporary.] Shishou said as he pushed off his mental shudders. He had to be strong. For Fran's sake.

But as the two of them pulled themselves together from that bit of shocking news, the Guild Hall doors opened. "Make way for the Hero of the Spear!"

Shishou glanced around to see the Motoyasu walking in through the door, surrounded by six Adventurers who must have been the teammates the King had provided for him. There were two guys and four girls in his party, each of them carrying themselves with the type of 'dignity' that probably meant pompous nobles. Shishou risked a quick glance at the stats of two of them and found that they were F-rank worthy. Low stats and levels plus shiny equipment equals noble who is worthless in a fight.

Seriously, they paired their Heroes up with that?

Maybe they didn't want the guy to become dependent on his party, or more likely this was all just a political game for these people.

"Guys, is all that really necessary? I'm just here to register with the guild, not make a public announcement." Motoyasu said as he walked in with a much more casual manner. He looked at his teammates the way one might look at an amusing child. He probably couldn't take them seriously, with the way they were acting. All around, people's attention was drawn away from Fran as they gasped at the latest thing to walk through the door. Everyone, especially the female adventurers, began to whisper in earnest.

But Fran's time out of the spotlight didn't last long, as Motoyasu spotted Fran. "So this is where you've ran off to. You know everyone was in a panic when you didn't show up this morning."

He started to walk towards Fran with a big smile.

[Thought Isolation] kicked in, protecting Fran from the man's [Lady Killer] skill, making him no different than any other person in her eyes. It was the entire reason why Shishou had insisted that the Skill was equipped at all times. To protect Fran's innocents from those evil Skills of the Spear and Shield Heroes.

But because his charms were greatly reduced, and he wasn't powerful enough to be memorable to Fran...

"...Who are you again?"


	6. Chapter 6

"...Who are you again?" The cute little catgirl asked in a monotone voice, giving Motoyasu a slight tilt of her head.

It was so adorable, that Motoyasu found it impossible to feel embarrassed that she didn't remember him. Though that had to be the first time any girl had not remembered him. A socially awkward girl that didn't even bother to remember his face, it actually appealed to his sensibilities as an Otaku. A catgirl Kuudere, an existence that would have been considered legendary in his old world. She was so damn cute. Did didn't matter how beautiful the other women were, the uniqueness of Fran made her stand out more than any of them.

Other worlds were the best!

Sadly, his new companions didn't exactly share his sentiments about it.

"How dare a mere low class adventurer take such a tone with one of the Legendary Heroes!?" Ritek shouted at the girl, not that she seemed to care. His sentiment was echoed by some of the others, but Fran didn't pay them any mind.

So adorable.

Still, Motoyasu couldn't help but find it odd that his companions were trying to tell someone off for being a 'mere adventurer' when they themselves were adventurers. They also were surrounded by other adventurers, who didn't seem all that happy about their profession being bad mouthed, as all the admiration they had been showing just a moment ago for their Legendary Hero of the Spear dried up.

As amusing as Motoyasu found their antics, these guys needed to take some serious chill piles. Getting angry and yelling at children was just not cool, or heroic.

"Hey now, just relax. The two of us didn't even have a chance to really talk yesterday, and with everything that happened, it's not really that strange that she wouldn't remember me." Motoyasu said, trying to calm the situation down.

It was the truth. Beyond the initial meeting with the King, he hadn't even heard the girl talk. They had been separated into different living spaces, since it would have been inappropriate for a little girl to be bunking with a couple of young men. They had been together at dinner, but she had been much more absorbed in eating than talking. Whenever people tried to speak with her, she had only ever responded with 'Nn'.

So adorable.

Beyond that, she had probably been through a lot that day, even when compared to the rest of them. Sure, Motoyasu had been stabbed to death, but when Fran had first appeared, she had been drenched in blood and her clothes had been covered in cuts. Her casual use of magic suggested she was also from a fantasy world, but Motoyasu's gut told him that it was still a different world than this one.

Regardless, it must have been hard, living in a world were such a young child would find themselves covered in that much blood. He couldn't even imagine the kinds of hardships the girl had gone through to become the way she was.

"As for her tone with a Legendary Hero, she's the Hero of the Sword. So it would be weird to stand on ceremony with each other." Motoyasu said with a shrug.

"WHAT!?" Everyone in the room shouted in surprise, with the only exceptions being Motoyasu and Fran themselves.

"Yo...You're the Hero of the Sword!?" The pretty receptionist said, looking down at Fran in shock.

Had she not told them?

"Sorry, were you trying to keep that a secret?" Motoyasu asked the girl.

She only shrugged. "Nn. Didn't seem important."

"Well, the people of this world are trying to put their faith in us to save them. So yeah, it's kind of important." Motoyasu said with a chuckle. "Which was why everyone at the castle was freaking out about you disappearing the way you did. Why did you wander off anyways?"

Motoyasu had also been worried when he had heard that the girl had just disappeared without any trace. He had wanted to search for her, but the King said that the Kingdom would look into it and that the Heroes couldn't postpone their journeys.

It was just a happy coincidence that Motoyasu ran into Fran when he went to check the Adventurer's Guild for any rumors about local monster activities.

"No reason to stay." Was the only excuse the black-haired catgirl gave.

"You were supposed to get companions to help with your journey. It's dangerous to go off on your own, you know?"

"Not alone. Have Urushi." Fran said. Motoyasu was surprised when out of the girl shadow came a large, pitch black wolf with red marks on its neck. It was not a giant creature, but it was still easily twice the size of a normal wolf, and even bigger than the girl herself. Though with the way he was panting, with his tongue hanging out, he seemed more like a playful puppy than a ferrous animal. He even had a dog collar on. The only thing that would have been considered out of place for a normal dog was a pair of metal claws that were attached to his feet. "Urushi: greatest Familiar."

"Woof! Woof!" Urushi barked happily as Fran gave the monster a full body hug, rubbing her face into the wolf's fur in such a way that she was flattening her ears against him.

So adorable.

"Well, he certainly does look strong." Motoyasu said, patting the wolf's head, as he seemed friendly. Urushi didn't seem to mind the attention at all, and simply let Motoyasu do it. "But that doesn't change the fact that you should try having some people in your party, if only to act as a guide. After all, you aren't familiar with this world, are you?"

"...Nn." Fran paused for a moment before shaking her head in the negative.

"Having someone around who can help you with maps and reading the local language could help you out a lot." It wasn't safe for such a young girl to be running around on her own, so Motoyasu would use any logical argument he could to try to get her to bring more party members with her. Safety in numbers.

"...Didn't consider." Fran said after considering Motoyasu's words.

Good. At least she was open to the idea of having a party with her. Now he just had to help her find one, since she already missed getting one from the castle earlier that morning. But as he looked around the room full of adventurers, he realized that might be harder than he first imagined.

Since Fran was such a young girl, it wouldn't be right for her to be partied with a bunch of men. It just won't be safe for her to travel around alone with them. But from what he could tell at a glance, more than 95% of the Adventurer's were male. He supposed that made sense. Fighting was traditionally more of a male thing than female. But it would make it difficult to find female adventurers available for the job, who were also strong enough and could put up with Fran's… unique disposition.

Not only that, but when Motoyasu mentioned getting Fran a party, a lot of the people around them got this strange look in their eyes. The fact that most of them were Demihumans made it extra unnerving, as they looked like hungry animals, including the women. Was it safe for Fran to be partied with any of them?

He really wanted to help, but did he have time to screen people for it? He did need to get his preparation out of the way so that he could start his own journey.

If Fran had been an adult, like Naofumi, Motoyasu might have just left it up to her. As much as Motoyasu would tease Naofumi for drawing the short stick when it came to weaponry, he was still a grown man and could take care of himself. Hell, even Itsuki was almost college age. But Fran was just 12. Even having her fighting felt kind of icky. She felt more like a mascot for the Heroes, even though she was currently the highest level.

As much as he hated to do it, knowing how bad it was for his groups moral, Motoyasu would have to ask some of his girls to join Fran's…

Before he could finish the thought, he noticed Fran walking out the Guild Hall door. "Hey, wait!" He shouted, chasing after her. "Wait Fran, I thought we were going to be getting you a party!"

"Nn. Considered it. Decided against." Fran said in her frank manner. As she said it, her Familiar, Urushi, who had been just a rather large wolf started to grow.

People in the street screamed in shock as the already large creature grew to be the size of an elephant, while crouching, giving Fran a chance to jump up onto its back. Even if his expression was still that of a friendly dog, he was now oozing power.

The Spear Hero was starting to understand how Fran could be so confident in the doggo's power.

"H...Hey, hold on a second! Where are you going!?" Motoyasu called up to her as Urushi stood back up.

"To get stronger." Fran replied.

"...Alright. I get it." Motoyasu said with a sigh. "But before you go, tell me, having you gone to sync up with the Hourglass of the Dragon's Era yet?"

"...Sync up?"

"I guess you don't know. Unless you sync up with the Hourglass, you won't be teleported to the battlefield when the Wave of Calamity hits. Meaning you'll miss it." Motoyasu explained.

"...I see."

"How much do you know about this world and the upgrade systems for it's Legendary Weapons?" Motoyasu asked.

"...Nothing about world. Some about weapon."

"I thought that might be the case. Even though we aren't from this world, Itsuki and I both have a lot of info about the world from video games we used to play. Things like where the best training grounds are, how to get rare items, and how to upgrade the Legendary Weapons." Motoyasu said. He was pretty sure Fran had no idea what a video game was, but he seemed to have gotten Fran's attention, as Urushi let her back off and returned to his previous size.

"Know how to make weapons stronger?"

"Sure do." Motoyasu said with a smile. While that information was all in the Help menu, she was pretty young, so it wouldn't hurt to have him explain it all to her, just to make sure she understands it. "How about this. Stick with me for today while I finish up my preparations and I'll explain as much as I can. At least then I won't have to worry about you accidently walking into an area that is too high of a level for you. How does that sound?"

Fran didn't say anything for a little while before nodding her head. Then, a magic circle appeared in the air and Fran took an item out of it, holding it out to Motoyasu.

"Huh? What's this?" Motoyasu asked as he looked at the long black horn.

"Rare monster material from my world. Payment for information." Fran said simply.

Oh? How lucky. His good karma for trying to help a young lady was already paying off. "I wasn't really expecting payment, but thanks all the same." Motoyasu said, taking the item and absorbing it into his Legendary Spear.

* * *

Name: Chaos Spear II

Ingredient: Horn of a Demon Count

ATK: 621

MP: 360/360

Durability: 900/900

Equipment Bonus: +3 MAG, [Illusion Thrust]. (Unmastered) (1/114)

* * *

Horn of a Demon Count? That really did sound like a high end material, though it wasn't one that existed in the game he had used to play. Motoyasu couldn't help but wonder where a girl like her got one. The stats on the weapon were as high as a decent mid game item.

"Shishou stronger: how?" Fran said.

"Shishou?" Motoyasu said, not really understanding what Fran was referring to.

"Sword's name. Shishou. Good name?" Fran said, showing off the Legendary Holy Sword. She had a genuine smile of excitement and pride on her face.

"Ooh, yeah… best name I've ever head for a sword!" Motoyasu said quickly, not wanting to disappoint the girl.

Had she seriously named the Legendary Holy Sword 'Master'? What a lame name, but her expression was just too much for Motoyasu to say so. She really was just a child at heart.

So adorable.


	7. Chapter 7

"Bellowing Dragon Haunt. Large mountain. Due east. Will go."

"What!? No! I told you, that area has a recommended level of 70 for solo hunting. You absolutely should not go there!" Motoyasu shouted in near exasperation.

Shishou almost felt sorry for the guy. He wanted to warn Fran about all the most dangerous areas around, in hopes that she would avoid them, only for the battle junky to become more and more interested in going there.

Shishou himself thought that the place sounded perfect. By Motoyasu's description, it seemed to be around a B-rank Haunt, meaning B-rank monsters could regularly spawn there.

In order to be able to consistently fight such monsters one-on-one, you would have to be an A-rank Adventurer, or someone who is equivalent to one. Though it would usually take an S-rank to be able to fight an entire group of them at once. Most A-rankers would be around level 65~75. But Fran was able to hold her own against such monsters, no problem.

The only reason why the Valkyrie gave them any trouble at all was because she showed up with an entire army full of lesser monsters possessing the [Divine Shield Technique] Skill, which allowed them to intercept the damage meant for their leader. Before the battle was over, they had killed the Valkyrie roughly a hundred times over.

Take out the army of scapegoat monsters, and the inability to retreat without leaving thousands to die, and there wasn't all that much threat involved in fighting B-rank monsters. If too many came at once, they would just [Long Jump] to safety.

So a place were B-rank monsters could regularly spawn would be a good place to train.

Besides, if they followed his advice and stuck to fighting F and E rank monsters, they would have to kill tens to thousands of them just to grow a level, even with the 10x EXP bonus. The EXP curve was steep as all hell, with a single normal goblin being enough to get you to level 2, if the goblin was big enough, but once you get to level 20, you need to kill almost a thousand of them just to grow a single level. Even after killing hundreds of F and E-rank Spider monsters at the "Cobweb" dungeon, Fran didn't grow a single level.

The Catgirl Adventurer had already reached the point where she would have to solo kill three B-rank monsters just to grow a single level. And in order to equal the experience given by a single B-rank threat, one would have to kill 1,000 E-rank monsters, or 100,000 G-rank threats, like goblins.

Even with 10x EXP, they would have to hunt big game if they wanted big results quickly. People like Amanda and Jean had to Adventurer for over 40 years just to reach those high levels, and each of them had fell entire armies over the course of their time as Adventurers. Klimt, the Wood Elf Guild Master from the very first Adventurer's Guild they ever visited, was over 130 years old and was still only level 68. There was a good reason why no one believed Fran could be as strong as she was so young. It would normally take 10 years of adventuring just to get to level 25. They had gotten exceptionally lucky with how many high level monsters they had managed to both fight and kill.

That first Demon they killed together gave Fran as much EXP as most beginner adventurers would get in their first 10 years of hunting.

So as much as Shishou appreciate the sentiment behind Motoyasu's words, they would be hitting up that Haunt… At least until they graduate from it and needed to look for an A-rank Haunt.

Shishou didn't exactly like Motoyasu, but the man did genuinely want to help keep Fran safe, and Shishou could honestly say that Fran had weirder allies. Motoyasu's level of perversion couldn't compare to Erza, the transexual, sadomasochistic, wrestling berserker.

He… She… They had made Shishou extremely uncomfortable every time they were around. Fran's extreme innocence was a blessing, as she didn't realize that Erza had often been attempting to flirt with her, as Erza's sexual preferences knew neither age nor gender. Fran had even considered them to be a close friend and comrade. Even the thought provoked a shudder from the intelligent sword, who understood all too well what Erza was. Fucking nightmare material.

The blessings of never being able to sleep.

Regardless how much of a womanizer Motoyasu was, he was still trying to be a genuinely cool guy and never did anything that crossed the line. That said, Fran was still off limits and Shishou would cut the man's hand off if it ever wondered!

The information they had gotten from Motoyasu had been more than just handy, and a lot of it hadn't been in the [Help Menu].

On top of info about where to find strong monsters, he provided them with information about 'item drops' and what monsters would give rare and useful ones, the use of Status Enchantments to turn useless monster parts into Enchantments that would give hefty stat bonuses to individual weapon forms, and how weapon forms could be mastered just by using them in battle or keeping them equipped. Each of these would have been enough to make the afternoon spent well worth it, but they weren't even the biggest one he had given them so far.

[Skill Transfer].

Motoyasu had written off [Skill Transfer] as a less useful ability, as most of the Skills gained through Equipment Bonuses were either just basic resistances or small stat bonuses, or Techniques that required 'SP' to use, a resource that ONLY the Legendary Heroes had. Making transferred Skills less useful. But with Shishou's laundry list of Slottable Skills, it was absolutely huge.

While at the Hourglass of the Dragon's Era, Fran could give any of her party members a copy of any non-unique Skill that Shishou possessed, and each party member could be assigned 2+level/20 Skills. Meaning that Shishou was able to share a whole 3 Skills with the level 33 Urushi.

It had taken a while just to decide which ones to give their Familiar partner. Shishou had been tempted to give Urushi the 'Awakening' skill, just to see what would happen, but decided against it.

He didn't want to risk pissing off the Gods again with his cheats. They were let off with a warning last time, and a curse that bond him to Fran till death, because the Goddess of Chaos advocated for them, but they might not get lucky again.

In the end, Fran and Shishou decided to help Urushi with his issues with front loaded burst damage.

While Urushi's poisons were of the highest skill grade, they took time to kick in, and if the enemy had poison resistance, they could take a good deal of time to start working, or might even be rendered useless. And while his [Dark Magic] was high, it was more keyed towards sneaky attacks than heavy damage.

So, to increase the Wolf's burst damage, Fran equipped him with [Flame Magic Lv3] and [Magic Up (Medium)]. Then they gave him [Perfect Barrier Lv1] in order to improve his defenses.

It was all pretty rushed out, but they could always change it up later.

"What next?" Fran asked the Spear Hero. The man had seemed distracted, looking at a group of nuns with a complicated expression.

They had gone together to the massive cathedral, where the Hourglass was housed, in order to synchronize with the timer. But while they were there, they ran into a group of worshippers who had tried to deny Fran entry. Of course, she just ignored them and walked straight past, dancing around the guards who tried to grab her, until Motoyasu explained who they were.

They were given entry after that, but Fran still received looks from people all around them. Not pleasant looks. Some even made what Shishou suspected were signs against evil as she passed. While Fran didn't care, so long as it didn't evolve into enemy action, it didn't sit well with Motoyasu. Honestly, it pissed Shishou off too.

"Huh? Oh. I was thinking of heading over to the local blacksmith to get some armor and make use of the [Weapon Copy] function." Motoyasu said as he put on a smile for Fran, trying to pretend that nothing was bothering him.

"[Weapon Copy]? What's that?" Fran asked.

"It's something that allows the Legendary Weapons to copy any other weapon of the same category as them. So you would be able to copy any sword and I would be able to copy any spear. You should be able to trigger it just by holding onto the weapon for long enough." Motoyasu explained. "While most normal weapons won't be able to compare stat wise to some of the things you can unlock later on, they can provide useful Skills."

[Oh, that sounds handy.]

(Nn. Want to try.)

Fran reached into their Dimensional Storage and retrieved Deathgaze, a black long sword that emanated the promise of death. While Fran was unfazed by its aura, everyone else nearby recoiled.

"What the heck is that thing!?" One of Motoyasu's women shouted as the nuns redoubled their efforts to pray Fran out of existence.

"Magic Sword: Deathgaze. Dungeon loot. Good find." Fran said, though she kept her eyes on Shishou.

Sure enough, shortly after she pulled the sword out, Shishou unlocked a new form. His body changed shape to mirror Deathgaze, only with his wolf's head ornament still on the guard, the same way it always was when he changed shape.

* * *

Name: Deathgaze

ATK: 845

MP: 800/800

Durability: 700/700

Magical Conductivity: B+

Self Evolution – Rank 1

Core Points: 0/2000

Memory: 20

Unique Skill: Death's Calling: 3% chance of causing 'Death' on hit. (10 MP per attack)

Equipment Bonus: +3 STR, +4 MGC. (Unmastered) (0/400)

* * *

[Hahaha! Now that is more like it!] Shishou couldn't help but laugh.

Deathgaze was a top tier Magic Sword, a 'named item' once wielded by the Legendary Zombie Warrior, a Boss monster inside of what would be considered an active A-rank dungeon. It was the kind of weapon that every Adventurer dreamed of one day owning, even if you didn't consider its auto-death ability. The sword's maximum damage was comparable to what Shishou had when he was Rank 7 in his evolution chain, though it was way behind in Max MP. Shishou would grudgingly admit that he had once felt intimidated by the sword's power, and worried that Fran might have been better off wielding Deathgaze in fights.

But now that power was his.

"Shishou: Amazing." Fran nodded her agreement as Shishou basked in the glory. "Do others now."

Demonic Shadow-Steel Longsword, Illusionary Pyroxene Magic Sword, Dagger of the Sovereign Serpent, Fran pulled out one magical blade after another, letting Shishou copy them. Though none were on the level of Deathgaze, he wasn't about to say no.

Damn, he was letting his gluttony show again.

"Where did you get all these?" Motoyasu asked as Fran went from the higher tier magic swords to the more average High-Quality Silver-Steel Magic Swords.

"Dungeon monsters: mostly." Fran said, as she copied the last of them.

"...Got any spears?"

"Nn. Some." Fran said, before retrieving an impressive looking War Maiden's Spear taken from the first Valkyrie they killed, as well as a Cursed Fairy-Steel Halberd that came from a Dullahan that was with the later group.

Motoyasu looked at the two magic weapons before his shoulders slouched. "...It kind of feels like I'm taking advantage of you."

"Hm. Don't mind. Just copying. Originals still mine." Fran said, holding the weapons out.

"Alright then, but this senpai will be sure to pay you back later on. Alright?" Motoyasu said with his charming smile.

"Not necessary." While some might think that this is just Fran being nice, she was telling the truth as far as she was concerned. She was losing nothing by allowing Motoyasu to copy those weapons. "Blacksmiths: which way?"

* * *

Name: War Maiden's Spear

ATK: 713

MP: 600/600

Durability: 500/500

Equipment Bonus: +2 DEX, [War Maiden's March]. (Unmastered) (1/78)

* * *

[War Maiden's March] - When leading an army of 100 or more units, members of the march gain buffs to mobility and stealth.


End file.
